Exploring the Void
by Honda Katsuya
Summary: Iruka's life isn't as filling as he wishes it was, even with a child to care and worry for like Naruto. But it might just be his connection to the orphaned boy that brings Kakashi from his world into Iruka's. [KakaIru]
1. Enter the Enigmatic Kakashi

Exploring the Void

(aka Vanilla Chocolate Caramel Filling) subtitle will be explained in later chapters, if you can't figure it out

Iruka sighed as he lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was true he was with Naruto more lately as he treated his almost-little-brother slash almost-son to ramen. Even so Iruka was lonely and he knew it. There was only so much of the void in his life that the small boy could fill. What the boy had said to him really cut into him.

"So? It's not like anyone's waiting at home for me!" Naruto had said. It was a feeling Iruka knew all too well. Then he had saved Naruto, and the boy returned the favor, they were bonded forever from that moment. But still Iruka was alone, even if he had adopted the boy into his heart already. He neglected himself in favor of Naruto's well-being, considering his own case a lost cause. He fell asleep clutching his pillow in his arms, deciding he'd better get some sleep since the next day would be the true test of the new graduates. Would Naruto really become a genin? It all depended on the team he was assigned to.

Iruka read through his list of genin and jounin teachers at his table in the lounge. Kakashi was assigned to Naruto and the others. _The_ Kakashi who had graduated from the academy when most of his peers could not yet read and write was going to test _the_ Naruto who had failed the graduation test so many times; it didn't bode well. He caught sight of one of his jounin friends walking past.

"Anko-chan," Iruka referred to her familiarly to get her attention.

"Hm, what's up, Iruka-kun?" Anko stopped, noting the personal touch in his voice, it had nothing to do with business as usual she could tell.

"What do you know about Kakashi-sensei?"

"About as much as anyone else, which isn't much."

"As a teacher, what do you know?"

"Huh? Well I heard he's a rough one for the genin candidates to try with. I never met anyone who claimed to be a student of Kakashi's."

Iruka shook his head and stood, nodding towards Anko.

"I'll ask Hokage-sama when I see him tomorrow. Thank you for your time, Anko-san." Iruka reverted to his ever-so-polite manner of speech as he gathered his papers together, hoping it wasn't as bad as it sounded.

"Hey," Anko grabbed Iruka's arm as he started to leave. "All the teams should have met their sensei by now; do you want to go grab something to eat? I know you haven't had lunch yet."

"Anko, I don't think…" Iruka started to decline.

"Come on, you're buying me some dango," Anko laughed and started walking away. Iruka blinked and followed her merely to argue the point.

"Anko-san, you make more than I do, why do I have to buy you dango?"

"So would you come eat with me if I paid for it?" Anko grinned as she set her trap. "Or is it just that you don't want to be seen with me, Iruka-kun?" Iruka immediately shook his head, not wanting his friend to think he didn't like her.

"No, Anko-chan, I would love to join you for dango, but…" Anko never gave him a chance to finish his sentence.

"Great! Then it's settled, we're having dinner."

"I…oh, alright," Iruka sighed in defeat. He never could get Anko to change her mind about anything. The two arrived at Anko's favorite restaurant and began to order when Iruka caught something white out of the corner of his eye. He had never talked at length to Kakashi, but he knew him from sight as well as any other ninja that came through the mission room. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm?" The jounin lifted his head from his book as his name was spoken. "Iruka-sensei."

"Did you meet with Team Seven already, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka ignored Anko's attempts at getting him to order something, causing the female jounin to smack him in the back of the head. When that didn't work, she shrugged and ordered for him.

"No, I haven't." Kakashi grinned with his solitary eye.

"What? But it's been an hour since lunch was over, the kids are probably still waiting…" Iruka turned and started to go back to the Academy.

"Only an hour? I've got time to kill. Really Iruka-sensei, from what I hear…those kids need time to chill out."

"I can't just leave them alone!" Iruka frowned.

"They'll be okay. Sit. Anko looks like she's started eating without you, and it's not going to last long with her."

"I heard that, Hatake," Anko smirked as she ate her dango.

"Actually, I followed you here, I wanted to talk to you before I met them," Kakashi explained as he stole away some of Anko's food and offered it to Iruka as a bribe.

"What did you want to talk about?" He ate the offering slowly. It wasn't his favorite, but he did skip lunch for his research.

"Naruto, he knows what he is now, right?" Kakashi whispered.

"He does…thanks to Mizuki."

"You're one of the few people who accepted him despite the burden he carries. How is he, really?"

"He's not as bad as people think he is…"

"Oh here we go, I'm out of here. Once you get Iruka talking about Naruto, it never stops." Anko finished her plate and paid, then left the two men alone.

"Naruto plays pranks to get attention…I can relate to that," Iruka rubbed his nose timidly. "He's a good kid, if people would only give him a chance. He's really not dangerous."

"Okay, I believe you, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi held his hand up to silence the teacher.

"Most people judge him as being a bad kid before they really get to know him…"

"Iruka, I don't give genin candidates any special treatment, for good or bad. I'm not going to mistreat him because of the fox. But I won't coddle him either."

"I understand, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka bowed to him submissively.

"Well, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Later, Iruka-sensei, I won't make them wait longer for today." Kakashi grabbed Iruka's shoulder and squeezed, then disappeared as quickly as it had taken Iruka to first notice his presence. Iruka's hand went to the spot where Kakashi's was and blinked. He still didn't know about Kakashi's methods, but at least the man had said he wouldn't prejudge Naruto based on who or what he was. Iruka decided he was still going to talk to the Hokage, but his first fear quickly subsided as he took Kakashi's words to heart. Naruto would have a fair chance like anyone else.


	2. Ichiraku Ramen

Author's note: This isn't the chapter I originally intended to post. That chapter will now be Chapter Three.

After talking with the Hokage, Iruka was thinking more than ever that maybe it _wasn't_ such a good thing that Naruto would be treated like every other student. Kakashi had never passed a single student under his test, not one. Iruka could do nothing but wait for the results, there were no classes to occupy his time and it wasn't his day to work the mission desk. He sighed and pulled his hair down as he walked into his bathroom and filled the bathtub, willing himself to relax while he waited. He stripped his clothes off and slid into the water and began to meditate. He ignored the sound of his own stomach and closed his eyes.

"I really need to stop skipping lunch like this. Tea just isn't that filling…"

Kakashi dropped down on the post Naruto was still tied to and smiled.

"Ah, good. You're still here."

"Of course I'm still here, you didn't untie me!" Naruto struggled against the rope. "Hey, you left me here on purpose didn't you?"

"Actually," Kakashi scratched his cheek and pretended to be in deep thought. "Yes. Yes, I did." He ignored Naruto's wails and insults and untied him. "Naruto, I think Iruka-sensei would love to hear the good news." The blond boy stopped in mid-insult and beamed.

"Hey, hey, maybe Iruka-sensei will treat me to ramen to celebrate!"

"Great." Kakashi's eye curved happily. "Let's go find him, Naruto."

"Yeah, I know where Iruka-sensei lives, he's probably there." Naruto ran ahead of Kakashi and led the way. When Kakashi and Naruto arrived at Iruka's door, Naruto knocked enthusiastically.

"Iruka-sensei! I passed, I'm a ninja! Iruka-senseeeeei!"

Iruka opened the door slowly, having just gotten out of his bath, his hair was still down and dripping wet. His only covering was a black towel he had quickly wrapped around his waist. It was apparent from Iruka's expression that he hadn't expected Naruto to bring Kakashi along. Something nagged in the back of Iruka's mind to be embarrassed by his state of undress, but they were all men, he rationalized.

"Naruto?" Iruka laughed. "You passed? That's great!" He hugged the boy gently, making sure not to let his towel slip. He paused to look at Kakashi who had been awfully quiet. A darkened spot had formed on his mask. "Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei? Your nose is running…"

"Huh?" Kakashi snapped himself from his daze, thankful for his mask as his nosebleed wouldn't be noticed for what it was. He lifted a hand to his face. "I'll be fine, thank you for your concern, Iruka-sensei. Mind if I use your bathroom?" He didn't wait for a response and walked inside. He followed the traces of water droplets back to the bathroom and closed the door, then pulled his mask down to clean his face. "_Damn,"_ he thought to himself. He pulled his mask back up and walked back out to join Iruka and Naruto.

"Kakashi, if you're sure you're feeling okay…Naruto wants to go to Ichiraku. Do you want to come along?" Iruka was fully dressed and his hair once again tied back when Kakashi reappeared.

"Maybe for a bit," Kakashi made sure not to sound _too_ interested in the offer, considering it was his own idea. He walked out the door with Naruto and Iruka following behind him. Naruto ran ahead of the two adults while Iruka laughed as he caught up with Kakashi and walked beside him.

"How was he?" Iruka smiled at the man beside him.

"He's got a lot of improving to do, but these kids…they're the first who ever passed my test. You must have been a good teacher for those three, Iruka-sensei."

"Really?" Iruka smiled and blushed faintly. They arrived at the ramen shop where Naruto had already ordered for himself. After Iruka and Kakashi got their orders, Kakashi waited until Iruka was in mid-conversation with Naruto and quickly ate before they could see his face. When Iruka turned back to look at Kakashi, he blinked as he saw the empty bowl. "And here I thought Naruto ate ramen fast…" He laughed and began working at his own ramen.

"It was good, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi sat his hand down near Iruka's and glanced over at Naruto. He knew the two weren't related in any way except teacher and student, but the two acted more like father and son. It was only when Iruka cleared his throat that he realized he'd been staring.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have to stare like that?"

"No," Kakashi replied, but made no move to look away. Iruka sighed in frustration and went back to his ramen. Kakashi looked at Iruka's darker complexion; it made himself look deathly white. Iruka quickly finished his bowl while Naruto finished his third. Kakashi dared to move his hand over Iruka's as he stood.

"Well Iruka-sensei, I'll see you later. Naruto, meet up with the others at the mission room tomorrow morning." Kakashi smiled under his mask and disappeared before Iruka could react to his impertinent hand. Both Iruka and Naruto blinked at his sudden disappearance.

"Naruto, is he always like that?"

"He is, he wouldn't even tell us anything other than his name when we asked."

"Well…that doesn't surprise me, honestly. Who knows, you three may find out more about him than anyone ever has." Iruka touched his own hand gingerly where Kakashi's hand had been moments before.


	3. Iruka's denial

Author's note: This scene takes place before the pet cat mission.

Iruka waited in the mission room even after everyone else had left, he was still hoping Kakashi would bring in Team Seven's last report. He knew they were done, he'd seen them hours earlier. An hour before his shift ended, Kakashi finally made his way in and sat down his report.

"Do you have anything else for Team Seven?"

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka smiled. "Hokage-sama had business to attend to, so I picked a mission for you in the meantime."

"Oh?" Kakashi's eyebrow rose slightly. "And what might that be?"

"Teuchi needs to close down shop to take Ayame on a trip. They asked if Naruto and his group would be available to be temporary help so the shop could stay open, they know how crushed Naruto would be to go a week without their ramen."

"Naruto will love that, Iruka-sensei."

"Yes, well," Iruka blushed faintly and scratched his nose. "Make sure Naruto doesn't eat up the profits."

Kakashi left after accepting the mission, almost blindsiding someone standing there and murmured a half-hearted apology. Anko grumbled and walked to the desk, slamming her elbows down to get Iruka's attention.

"Hey, you awake?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, Anko-chan," Iruka laughed, unconsciously slipping into familiarity. Anko looked at the open door, then back to Iruka's smiling—far too cheerful, even for him—face and smirked.

"You were checking him out, weren't you?"

"What?! No. No! I'm not gay, Anko."

"Iruka, I snuck into the boys' bath on your 16th birthday and showed you my boobs. And your only response was, and I quote, 'Anko-chan, that armor really chafes your skin. Why don't you try a good moisturizer?'"

"Maybe I'm just not interested in _you_, Anko," Iruka said through his teeth as his cheeks burned. Anko had him right where she wanted him.

"Right, you're interested in Kakashi-sensei."

"Anko, I swear I'm not gay. Why would I be interested in Kakashi?"

"Aha! You left the honorific off of his name."

"I do that with you too, Anko."

"But you've known me for years; you've just recently started having _conversations_ with Kakashi."

"I don't like Kakashi-sensei, like that I mean." Iruka tried to ignore her and go back to his work, but it wasn't meant to be.

"Then why did I come in and see you high as a kite as Kakashi's ass sauntered away from your view?" Anko smirked. "As far as I'm concerned, your shift is over." Anko grabbed Iruka's arm and lifted him over her back.

"Hey!" Anko carried him out and called for a random chuunin to take over watching Iruka's spot and started running. "Anko, let me down, I've got more work to do!"

"Nonsense, this is more important." Anko stopped by Ichiraku where she knew from eavesdropping Kakashi and Team Seven were. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi blinked as Anko dragged Iruka towards him and sat him down. _Oh, I see. She was the one standing by the doorway_.

"Can you let Iruka have a look at that book of yours? He needs to be proven a point."

"What?!" Iruka had heard rumors of Kakashi's prized _Icha Icha Paradise_. Kakashi shrugged and flipped his book over the counter into Iruka's view. "Ack!" Iruka quickly shut his eyes and looked away after catching glimpses of certain phrases.

"See? You are so gay," Anko giggled. Kakashi's eyebrow rose at Anko's declaration. _So that's what she was trying to prove? Interesting…_

"That proves nothing! And don't say things like that in public."

"Now now, Anko," Kakashi started as he brought the book back to read it himself. "Just because Iruka-sensei doesn't like it, that doesn't make him gay."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"It makes him prudish." Iruka growled low, now sorry he had thanked him. Kakashi tried hard to keep a straight face. "Well just because you read heterosexual porn, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be straight either to enjoy it, it goes both ways."

"Kakashi! Stop discussing this in front of the children!" Iruka's face was red, but more from frustration than embarrassment.

"Well, he makes a good point, Iruka-kun. Damn. We'll just have to test you another way."

"I don't _need_ to be tested," Iruka was exasperated.

"Maybe something psychological. Lets go see if Ibiki is willing to help." Iruka groaned as he was once again dragged away against his will. It wasn't that he had a problem with hitting girls; he just didn't think it would be a wise idea to try and hit this particular one. Kakashi stared at them as they left.

"That was interesting…" Kakashi murmured. Meanwhile, the three students stood in the back quietly discussing their teachers.

"He acts weirder than normal when Iruka-sensei is around," Naruto whispered. "Look, he's still staring at them."

"I know that look," Sakura whispered. "I just never thought Kakashi-sensei would…" She blushed and shook her head. "We shouldn't talk about it here, I'm sure he can hear us." Sasuke looked uninterested with the conversation but nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Iruka was under Ibiki's interrogation tactics, despite his heated protests.

"I want you to say the first thing that comes into your head when I start. You don't have to answer since I'm not actually interrogating you, but if you don't, Anko will hound you forever about it." Iruka shuddered, that thought was almost worse than a real interrogation. "Okay, let's begin."

"Right," Iruka nodded.

"Ninja."

"Konoha."

"Yellow."

"Naruto."

"Chocolate." Ibiki smirked, knowing from Anko that Iruka had a thing for sweets.

"Sundae." Iruka echoed, unaware of where Ibiki was going with this.

"Caramel."

"Filling."

"Kakashi."

"Vanilla." Iruka blinked and then shook his head. "Wait, wait! You set me up for that!" Ibiki laughed and shook his head.

"No, that's where your mind went when you thought of Kakashi. That's no fault of mine. Hey, you should tell Kakashi you want to make a sundae out of him. I bet he'd get a kick out of that."

"Anko's never going to let me live this down." Iruka rubbed his head.

"Who cares what she thinks?" Ibiki stood and walked to the door. "It's your life. I suggest you start living it. If you like Kakashi, it's up to you what to do, not Anko."

"But what if Kakashi doesn't like me that way? I don't want to embarrass myself."

"You're a ninja. Pay attention to him when he's around you. He'll let you know, even if he is the mysterious Kakashi Hatake."

"Okay…I guess you're right."

"I'll distract Anko and let you escape. Now hurry up and get out of here." Iruka nodded and fled the scene.

"Ah, so I was right," Anko smirked from the shadows.

"Yeah. Leave him alone for awhile now, it's his business."

"Oh okay, but you know as well as I do he never would have admitted it on his own." Anko sighed. Iruka left the building unaware of their conspiracy and ran to his apartment to process just what had happened that day.


	4. Kakashi's True Feelings part 1

Two days passed before Iruka saw Kakashi again. "See how Kakashi acts" was his unofficially imposed mission. He needed an excuse to see him soon, Naruto was probably wondering where he was. Wait. _Naruto_. He could see Kakashi at Ichiraku on the pretense of visiting Naruto. He smiled inwardly and dressed quickly, ready to start his day by investigating Kakashi. Iruka tried his best to appear cool and composed, but lost the battle to hide his emotions as Naruto shouted to him.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto hopped over the counter and tackled his former teacher. Iruka laughed and hugged Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, I thought I'd join you guys here for lunch."

"That's great! Hey, Kakashi-sensei, can I take my break now?"

Kakashi glanced around; it didn't seem very crowded since nobody else was within miles of them.

"Go ahead."

Naruto cheered and yelled at Sasuke to make miso ramen for himself and tonkotsu ramen for Iruka, earning a dark glare from the other boy.

"How are you, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka smiled gently.

"Can't complain…" Kakashi shrugged. Iruka nodded and kept smiling and thought to himself. _Hmm. No clues yet. But he is skilled at hiding his emotions, after all._

Sakura brought the ramen out to Iruka and Naruto.

"Good afternoon, Iruka-sensei."

"You too, Sakura," Iruka smiled at her and began eating and noticed Kakashi staring at him again. Iruka decided to test Kakashi's reactions. Iruka sighed pretending to be frustrated with something and pulled his hair down, picking out bits of hair that got ripped free. He slid the tie around his wrist and continued eating, running his fingers through the loose locks. He thought he heard Kakashi try to hide a gasp and looked up at him with a lock of hair wrapped around a finger.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi shuddered inwardly. He could almost swear that Iruka was _flirting_ with him. That is, if Iruka was the flirting type, but he seemed far too innocent for anything like that. He froze as Iruka caught him staring again and blinked in spite of himself. Sure Iruka was prone to blushing but he was still a ninja after all. He watched Iruka lower his eyes and go back to eating. _Is he trying to get a rise from me?_ He watched as Iruka slurped and missed as a noodle stuck to his chin. Iruka wiped his face clean with a finger and licked the juice off his finger suggestively, still avoiding Kakashi's eyes. Kakashi groaned quietly. _Well if he is, it's working damn it._ Naruto watched his two teachers, noticing Kakashi watching Iruka.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Iruka tried not to smile as he heard Kakashi responding to his tests. But that only proved that he was perverted which was of course widely known. Naruto chose that moment to hug his old sensei fervently, thanking him for the mission, the ramen, and for all around being the best damn sensei _ever_. Iruka laughed and hugged the young boy back, then glanced up to see Kakashi giving his young charge a death glare.

"Okay, Naruto. Back to work." Kakashi's voice lowered dangerously. Naruto grumbled and hopped back over the counter, then Kakashi turned to Iruka and smiled as though nothing had happened. Iruka grinned crookedly. He could swear that Kakashi had been _jealous_ of the attention Naruto had been getting from him. "What's so amusing, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi murmured. Iruka twitched; he always was bad at hiding his emotions, but even worse at lying.

"Nothing really, Kakashi-sensei." He smiled, hoping Kakashi wouldn't press him further. Meanwhile, the three genins discussed the current development.

"I swear he looked like he wanted to kill me," Naruto whispered.

"Who cares?" Sasuke smirked.

"Hey shut up, this is serious."

"Kakashi-sensei's guard is almost gone when Iruka-sensei's around." Sakura nodded. "Why doesn't he do anything? He just _stares_ at him…"

"I've got an idea," Naruto inhaled. "Sasuke, you bastard! Your cooking sucks worse than you do!" He glanced at a pot full of boiling water.

"Naruto, leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura shook a fist at the blond.

"Whatever, loser." Sasuke nodded at the pot.

"I'll show you how GOOD ramen is made!" Naruto picked the water from the fire.

"Iruka-sensei likes it; it's just in your head, Naruto!" Sakura noticed Iruka glance in their direction.

"Naruto, give me the pot!" Sasuke chased him. When Naruto spun around to dodge Sasuke, he flung the pot towards the two teachers and let go. In an instant, Kakashi grabbed Iruka out of harm's way and dove with him onto the counter as the pot flew out of the ramen shop. Iruka blinked as he watched the pot roll around on the ground, then blushed as he noticed Kakashi clinging to him protectively.

"Ka…kashi?" Iruka whispered.

"What? Are you okay?" Kakashi blinked and reluctantly let go. "Sorry."

"I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei…" Iruka eyed the pot that had once had boiling water in it. That seemed much more than just a fight between Naruto and Sasuke. As Kakashi disciplined the three genin ninjas, Iruka took the chance to run home.

"That didn't quite go like I planned." Iruka said to himself. "But I think he does like me, I just need to find out if he's just like that with me or with everyone." Kakashi sighed as he noticed Iruka's disappearance.

"Have you three already forgotten how to act like a team?"

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," they murmured while secretly congratulating each other on a job well done. Kakashi _liked_ Iruka.


End file.
